Game Score Forms: Linear

For those who have been following my articles, you know that most of the groundwork for my posts originated on my graduate thesis Examining Non-Linear Forms: Techniques for the Analysis of Scores Used in Video Games.  I want to explore an under-developed topic from that work, and that is the concept of form within a video game score.

My primary interest in game music analysis is “big picture” analysis: how do you examine the entire game music score and all its objects to make sense of it, and how does it help to inform other aspects of ludology.  I utilize game score graphs to visualize all the objects in a game or section of a game, and help to inform analysis of relationships and the score as a whole.

In doing these graphs, there are a couple of “forms” that begin to emerge.  These forms mirror the format of the games themselves, though sometimes these forms are not as obvious as the game design itself.  The first is Linear.  Before I dive to far in, I want to say that game scores are rarely just one type or the other, but usually some sort of combination of different styles. 

In a Linear game score form, the player is forced to experience the game music objects in a set order.  When the game score has a strong linear component, the composer has a much larger control over the musical direction of the objects and game itself.  One of the clearest, simplest example to look at is the original Super Mario Bros.  We will examine the entire Real Time Game Score Graph (RTGSG) of World 1 as we explore the linear form:

(Click to zoom.)

For those who have not seen these graphs before, rounded objects are objects that loop, while squared objects are of a definite length.  Using Schenkerian terms, this is a very surface level look at the game score graph, as we are displaying each and every object.

When looking at an RTGSG, you can identify linear structures as structures that continue to move forward through various objects.  There is no central object that stands out as being the single return point.  One might argue that the “Overworld” object in this game is one such object, but if you look at the place and function of it, it holds the same weight per instance as the Underworld or Castle object as the predominant object for a section of the game.  The structure of the game, and therefore these objects, put us on a continuous fixed path throughout the game that gives this RTGSG a predominantly linear structure.

It will be more obvious if we reduce this RTGSG down to a more middle ground texture.  Borrowing concepts and techniques from Schenker, many of these objects can be reduced out of the surface level to give us a deeper structure of this game score:

Just as you would reduce out embellishment tones in a middle-ground schenker graph, these objects that interject within other objects can be reduced out as well.  Now the linear texture is much more obvious.

When looking to analyze larger sections of game scores, one technique is to identify what type of form the game score has.  That will inform the best way to approach a large scale analysis.  Now that we have gotten a core linear structure of Super Mario Bros: World 1, we can examine each individual object and its tonal center.

Much of the anaylsis of the individual objects is found in my thesis, so I will just summerize the tonal centers:

Overworld – C
Area Clear – C
Underworld – C
Castle – Minor/Dissonant but loosely G Centric
Level Clear – C (Ending on V)

So if you lay out the tonal centers in the linear order of the object, you can see the overall tonal progression from start to finish:

C – C – C – C – C – C – C – C – G – C

While this example is very simplistic, it is interesting to see how every object supports the C tonal center from start to finish until you get to the penultimate object, the castle.  The game score moves us to a tonal center on the dominant, which fights for the resolution, just as this level is one of the more challenging of the World, and the most tense.  The music reinforces the game play and inform the emotions of the player, so that when the level is completed and the Level Clear object plays, we finally get a resolution to C.

However, as we can see, the object that resolves ends in a half cadence, musically carrying us to the next World and its progression.  As you can image, this will continue until the game is won and the final Victory object is played, which ends in the most textbook perfect authentic cadence (melody going from re to do, and the bass from V – I).

I will discuss other types of game score forms in futures posts.  For now, I hope that this quick overview will help you start to conceptualize the entire game score as an object and give you tools to start working through larger pieces.

Map Music: SMB3 – World 3

Slightly longer object than the World 2 map, World 3 (water theme) contains eight measures with a cut-time feel:

This one perplexes me a bit.  Each of the three pitched lines seems to focus in on a different pitch.  The bass line reduced works out as follows:

A simple pattern around a tonic C, emphasized by a chromatic descending line and typical 7-2-1 motion at the cadence.

The upper voice tells a different story, seeming to favor centering around A (quasi-schenkerian reduction):

Notice how the primary pitches shift rhythmic focus in the second half of the object.

Lastly, the middle tonal line uses chromatic grace notes to emphasize a line similar to the bass line, but around E as the tonal center:

i

If you put these three reductions together, it makes:

Which makes NO SENSE!!!!!!

Ok… so if you take in a bit more information, ignore the top line and just look at the base line and the ornamented second line, you are left with something that you can hold onto harmonically:

So aside from measure 8, all we have is a slow decent upwards, and a return downwards… like the ebb and flow of the tide (wink wink).  Measure 8 establishes our tonic by using the leading tone triad to lead us back to C. 

So what about that melody line?  Over this interpretation, it is emphasizing the sixth over the bass in the first four measures, and then adds a seventh onto three of the chords in the last four measures (turning the chord in measure 6 into a dominant-seventh).

We could make a case for bi-modal, some quasi-Bartokean method, or bring in some other theoretical excuse for the melody line, but it works.  It does not feel dissonant, but it does make the whole object very interesting, and one of the reasons we typically do not get tired of hearing this map object when playing the game.

One last note about this object.  Remember, this is the map music for the Water Themed land.  Listen to the water music from the original Super Mario Bros.  Do you hear any similarities to this object? The chromatic lower-neighbor that characterizes this object’s melody is also very prevalent in the original SMB Water Theme.  Coincidence?  Doubtful.

You would almost think that the same guy wrote both of these objects… oh wait…

Super Mario Bros. 2 Analysis – Ending (Part 2)

Six months later and we finally get the epic conclusion of this analytical mini-series.

Well, I’m not sure how epic a conclusion it is, but we will make the best of it!

This is a pretty straight forward excerpt.  There is a nice passing motion between the V and IV chord on the third line represented by a bVII, though functioning only as a passing motion.  Also, there is a nice sequence descending from V to ii early on in the excerpt.

What I want to draw your attention to here is the last eight measures.  Why do you ask?  Well the progression alternating from bVI to I ending in a secondary dominant half cadence is not new.  It may not sound familiar, but with a little bit of chord analysis, you will soon see:

This is the third formal section of the original Super Mario Bros. theme.  The exact same chord progression in the exact same key, with the same harmonic rhythm.

Intentional?  Maybe.  Pretty Cool? Absolutely.

The “Mario” Cadence

I will start off this post by saying that this cadence was not invented nor first used in Mario, however, it is found all throughout the music of Koji Kondo and others who were inspired by his music.
The cadence in question, is the one pictured above.  The motion of bVI-bVII-I.  The example above is given in C major with rather arbitrary voice leading.  For those of you who have memorized all your part-writing rules, you will notice this progression is nearly impossible to write without violating a convention or two (when writing in four parts).  You will notice from all the examples below, ascending parallel 5ths and Octaves are very common when writing out this progression.
In my master’s thesis, I briefly discussed the use of modally inflected harmonies used as substitutions for more traditional harmonies.  The following paragraphs are taken from that thesis, Examining Non-Linear Forms: Techniques for the Analysis of Scores Found in Video Games (Texas Tech University, 2009):

Walter Everett’s discussion of tonal systems in Rock music provides a great explication of the use of modal inflection in the language of popular music. He discusses six different tonal systems that he believes are prominent in the tonal systems of Rock music. The system that is dominant with the composers discussed here is his third system: “Major-mode systems, or modal systems, with mixture from modal scale degrees. Common-practice harmonic and voice-leading behaviors would be common but not necessary.”[1] This system allows for the substitution of chords from modally inflected scale degrees to function as their diatonic counterparts would.
For example, the music of the composers examined below frequently employ the aeolian bVII chord functioning as a substitute for a more traditional dominant chord, such as V or vii°. The bVII can be heard as a dominant chord because it retains the motion from scale degree four to scale degree three in a bVII-I progression. This is the same voice leading motion that governs the voice leading in the V⁷-I motion. The bVII removes the leading tone, but creates momentum through other voice leading tendencies.
We see the bVI lead often to the bVII in cadential motion. Björnberg acknowledges this cadential motion as frequently "replacing the iv-V-i cadence of ‘regular’ tonal minor.”[2] We see it often replace the IV-V-I cadence of “regular” tonal major as well. Not only that, but we also see an example of bVI alternating with I. Both of these are normal functions of a vi chord: substitution for the IV chord in a predominant function, as well as the expansion of a tonic area. The bVI makes a good substitute for vi because it retains the tonic pitch and interval relationship in size (though not quality). Its third relationship to tonic allows it to continue to function as a tonic embellishment. It functions in the cadence because it allows for a descending third progression from the lowered third scale degree. These modal chords retain the function of their diatonic counterparts, and can be understood as functioning like those chords, even though some of the voice leading conventions are removed or altered.

The most well-known example of this cadence in video game music is found in the Overworld Object to Super Mario Bros., hence the moniker “Mario” Cadence:



This particular cadence is used also in the fanfare for the end of each level:



In the last post, I showed this example of the cadence in Super Mario Bros. 2:



Used as a common device for fanfares in the Mario series, we now see it used in Super Mario Bros. 3 Airship Victory Fanfare:



This harmonic language was not restricted to the Mario games from the NES era, as we can hear in the Dire, Dire Docks object from Super Mario Bros. 64:

Harmonic Progression: I | bVII | I | bVII | bVI | bVII | I

In fact, much of the A section of this object follows that progression.  When the bVI enters into the progression, the sense of cadence, or at least tonal center, becomes solidified.
Finding this cadence all throughout this music makes us wonder about its power and how it works.  It lacks a clear leading tone and dominant/tonic relationship, yet it draws our ears towards tonic in a way that no classical cadence does.
Cruise Elroy posted on this cadence back in 2008, which can be viewed here.  He does an analysis of three Ocarina songs from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which have this cadence in them, and also shows us an example of this cadence in Super Mario Galaxy.
For now, this progression will be coined the “Mario Cadence” and will be identified as such until better nomenclature is developed or found.

---

[1] Walter Everett, “Making Sense of Rock’s Tonal Systems,” Music Theory Online Vol. 10, No. 4 (December 2004), http://mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.04.10.4/mto.04.10.4.w_everett.html.
[2] Alf Björnberg, “On Aeolian Harmony in Contemporary Popular Music,” Typescript, http://www.tagg.org/others/bjbgeol.html.

Super Mario Bros. 2 Analysis - Underworld

Six Measures, Layers of Excitement.

This little melody is quite a little complex puzzle, and by no means to I consider my interpretation absolute.  I’d love to hear other views as well.
Starting on a large, macro level, this melody is all f minor with a minor 7th.


While some of the melodic harmonies do not always line up with this interpretation, most of the structural elements do. 
If we peal back one layer, we will notice that the object is oscillating between fmm7 and cmm7.  The F pedal, due to the persistent bass line, is heard under the cmm7.


The Bb in the first measure causes some problem with this interpretation.  Why, when all the other five measures of the bass line would this Bb occur here.  Well, if the Bb were replaced with an Ab (like the other measures), there is a distinct localized clash between F major and F minor.  In the other 5 measures the Ab is heard as a pedal harmony, but in the first measure, it would have been heard directly related to the melodic harmony and caused an audible dissonance that just sounds wrong.
Notice how this underworld theme is so short.  You might recall that Super Mario Bros. also had a rather short underworld theme.  These themes are slow, with minimal harmonic movement.  They are designed to drive you crazy, just like the underworld areas are designed to be a bit darker than your typical overworld area.

Reuse of Themes

Video game series often recycle themes from game to game to keep the continuity.  There are games, like Super Mario Bros., who reuse particular themes to create a sense of nostalgia.  The main theme from the original Super Mario Bros. returns frequently throughout the game series but always using it to generate this idea of something from the past.

The Legend of Zelda is another series that recycles themes.  As many of you know, the main theme for each Zelda game is typically different than the last, but retains motives and elements from previous themes to create the continuity of the series.  I’m currently playing through Twilight Princess and have found that the wolf songs uses to obtain the Hidden Skills are recycled ocarina songs from Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. 

These themes have no meaning except for acquisition of hidden skills.  They don’t seem to relate to the individual skill because they don’t always happen with the same skill. 

I have not noticed if they somehow relate to the area where the howling statue is found.  They could also be an indicator as to the timeline of Twilight Princess in relation to Ocarina.  Are these memories of legendary songs of old? What about the Wind Waker song?

The seven wolf songs are presented in the video below.  The order of the songs is reproduced below the video.  Why these songs?  Well, I guess that is a bit less music theory and maybe I’ll leave that discussion up to the narratologist.  I should just sit here and try to ignore the fact that the wolf is terribly out of tune and needs to go back to aural skills.

1 - Song of Healing
2 - Requiem of Spirit
3 - Prelude of Light
4 - Zelda's Lullaby
5 - Song of Heroes
6 - The Wind Waker: Song of Gales
7 - Ballad of Twilight

Super Mario Bros. 2 Analysis – Title Music

Now that my masters research is completed, turned in, published, and presented at a regional music theory conference, it is time to move on.  I have recently become attracted to the music of Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES, 1988) for several reasons.

• The game is not the “real” Super Mario Bros. 2.  It is a “Mario-tization” of Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, a Japanese game for the NES.  They did not get our version of SMB2 until 1993.
• The music is composed by ???.  Some sources say Kondo is the actual composer of SMB2, but other sources (namely a soundtrack and various bios) claim that Hirokazu Tanaka is the actual SMB2 composer.
• The Title Music…

Which brings me to a look at the Title Music for SMB2. 

This score separates the four tracks of the SMB2 Title Music.  I have linked a YouTube video below of the audio and corresponding visuals to this tune.

The first thing to recognize with this is the obvious remix of the Water World Music from the first SMB. Check the video below...

This is the main reason this tune first caught my attention.  Why would the Water World music, a relaxing tune to reflect the music of swimming through dangerous waters be reworked as a title theme?  It is worth pointing out that the first SMB did not have a title theme, so what are title themes for anyways?  Hard to tell how this tune fits into the whole picture until we see the whole picture (we’ll get to that much later).
As for how the tune works, it actually has some interesting elements to it.  What sounds like a simple oscillating Dominant-Tonic bass line is actually colored by some very interesting chords.

Above is the harmonic profile of this tune.  The numbers underneath the chords refer to the measure numbers that the harmonies support.  Lets walkthrough these harmonies and what they are doing:
Introduction
1-5: G Major (V) – dominant introduction leading to tonic of theme
Phrase A
6: C Major (I) – tonic chord
7: Technically a G Augmented Triad – the composer is creating a “dominant-like” chord here by flatting the root and third of the tonic triad, and grounding the harmony on the dominant G.
8-10: C Major (I) – a return to tonic
11: See 7
12-13: C Major (I) - a return to tonic.
Phrase B
14: G Major (V) – shifting tonal areas to G for a quick emphasis on Dominant
15: Like 7 and 11, this chord tries to create a sense of dominant, but this time all three notes of the tonic triad are flattened to create a Gb or F# Major triad.  This could also be seen as a D augmented with an added 7th, which would explain why it sounds so similar to the earlier G Augmented triad (even though the overall harmony is strictly major).
16-18: G Major (V) - Instead of repeating the same harmonic motion as before, this time, the tune stays on G Major.
19: GMm7 (V7) - A seventh is added to create a dominant seventh to return us to tonic.
20: C Major (I) - Tonic.
21: G Major (V) - Dominant “tag” to lead us into a new section of the tune.
Phrase C
22: C Major (I) – starting the new section firmly in tonic.
23: G Major (V) – moving quickly to dominant
24: G Diminished – By flatting the third and the fifth of the dominant triad, the music continues its downward spiral.
25: C# diminished - The Db, now C#, creates a new triad that leads cleanly into D minor.

NOTE: 24 and 25, could most likely be read as a G Fully Diminished 7th chord, but this reading reflects the notes and bass lines that predominate.

26: D minor (v/V) – starts a new downward decent.
27: F Augmented – By dropping the root down a half step.
28: F Major (IV) – Which brings us back in to traditional harmonic motion.
29: G Major (V)
30: C Major (I)
31-32: G Major (V)
33-36: C Major (I)
What is interesting to me are the similarities between Phrase A and B, even though the outlined chords are different qualities.  Having an Augmented chord build on scale degree 5 vs. a Major VII and how they seem to function the same.  Also in Phrase C, the downward motion happens twice, and each time it is handled differently, but to basically the same effect.
Does this make you want to go pull up some vegetables and throw them at the nearest shy guy?